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Archive for the ‘Hockey’ Category

Many athletes through their careers are encouraged to participate in charity events to give  back to the world. Many have started foundations in their name to devote awareness, money and time to causes they believe in. Many of them do charity events from education to social awareness it’s whatever cause that’s close to their heart many of them do charity causes that are of a personal nature because of someone they know or a loved one that may have been stricken with a disease or illness to bring awareness for cures. Many of them will go out into the community to volunteer their time by hosting events or holding events in their name for specific causes. This is one of the many things the NHL stands behind is the players giving back to the community and being role models to the kids who look up to them. There are some players who don’t need to be in the league if they can’t exhibit behavior of a real role model to kids who look up to them.

The bad thing is that the athletes who engage in lifestyles that result in negative publicity this is what hurts not only them, but the reputation they stand behind if they have charity foundations in their name. There’s too many athletes to name individually who have foundations in their hands, but you usually know they’re out there on that players’ respective website. It’s always important to keep in mind that charity events also provide a chance for players to connect with their fans because without the fans they’ll be nothing since fans make the star and the star’s way to thank the people behind him since the worst thing to do is ruin that reputation with scandalous behavior and lifestyle choices. Athletes that are really about making a difference will not engage in things that will bring negative publicity to them.

Some athletes as a part of their charity work is to volunteer their time to sports clinics where children and young adults can take part in. This gives kids the chance to meet some of their favorite players and to have a chance to hang out with them for a few hours and learn a few tricks of the sport. It’s proven that kids who have positive role models fair better than those who don’t have exposure or someone they can call a role model. It’s important for many of these athletes to understand the roles they step into when they become famous and popular because part of being a celebrity is to take what is considered a respectable thing and use it for the greater good of other people.

The idea of charity work was something that’s always been a long standing tradition with many of the professional sports leagues because there’s a huge responsibility behind making a lot of money, but you also have to understand that there are people in the world less fortunate and many of these athletes especially ones who are new to the world of pro sports they have no clue to what it means to be charitable until it’s explained to them over time. Most of the time groupies will pull no stops especially for athletes who do charitable things on behalf of the team and their private foundations. You can find the charity websites of athletes on their official websites.

Since the conception and foundation of Hockey, this sport has crossed from Canada-the birthplace of the sport and across the pond to Europe and back to the United States. As far as competition at the international level. The international men’s ice hockey world championships are highly regarded by Europeans and less regarded by Americans because it coincides at the same time the Stanley cup playoffs happen. Unfortunately, Canada, United States, and other countries with a large concentration of NHL players have not always been able to round up their best because many top players are playing for the Stanley cup trophy.

For many years professionals were barred from playing at the international level, and now that many Europeans are playing for the NHL, the world championships no longer represent the world’s top players. Hockey was an event that’s been a part of the Olympic games since 1924 with Canada winning 6 out of 7 gold medals, United States won the gold medal in 1960, Russia won all, but 2 gold medals between 1956 and 1988, but it was professional Americans, Swedish, Finnish, and Canadians that were banned from Olympic competition. U.S. non-pro college students went on to beat the Russians and win the gold medal in 1980 in Lake Placid, New York.

It was then that a new surge in the popularity of the game that most Americans weren’t paying too much attention to. The 1972 and 1974 Summit series had solidified Canada and Russia as hockey rivals. The Canadian Cup where the best of the best nations were able to play later followed it. The Canadian cup later became the World Cup of Hockey with the United States winning in 1996 and Canada winning in 2004. Since 1998 NHL professionals have played in the Olympics giving the top players more opportunity to compete and face off with other professional players from different countries. There have been 9 women’s competitions and women’s hockey has been in the Olympics since 1998 and in the winter of 2006 marked the world championship or Olympic face with Canada and Sweden not Canada and the United States.

Women are coming into the fold on own in this sport and are competing just as hard as males. Females still have a long way to go in terms of really being there with males at the domestic and international levels. Hockey was always that sport dominated by males and yet women still have long way before they’re really taken seriously in the hockey world. Hockey is still enjoyed by millions of people in Canada and the United States and still to this day still breaking attendance records by the throngs of loyal fans who still love this sport and has made it a family tradition to go to games and for it becoming a pastime like Americans treat baseball, football and basketball.

Hockey to some people is like poetry on ice it’s got its own set of rules and it’s a separate world altogether from any other sport whether its professional or not. Hockey to some people is like the air they breathe and people really can get into this sport like it’s a soap opera. The whole concept of hockey is just what it is people playing a pretty heavy game that can very physically demanding since you have so many different personalities you’re going up against.

Some people will spend hours playing hockey well into the late hours since some rinks will stay open to accommodate those hockey buffs who want to spend 2-3 hours thrashing around a cold rink slapping a hard rubber circle around.

In order to play professional level hockey, you need great athleticism, stamina, courage, and skill.  The very foundation of a hockey player at any level is good skating technique, and this is true whether you are playing in a peewee city league or on the professional circuit.  This is a brief introduction to skates and warm-ups.

To put it briefly, skating is ultimately an alternating, one-legged balancing act.  Let’s begin with the equipment you are balancing on, the proper pair of skates.  If your feet are growing, a used pair that fits correctly is a much better choice than a larger, “top of the line” pair with room to grow.  Your heel should rest flat in the back of each skate, and your big toe should barely touch the front portion of the toe cap.  More room here is NOT beneficial.  Ankle support is important, especially for young skaters.  Either leather or man made material is fine, and depends upon the comfort level of the skater.  Get good high grade steel blades, dry them off after each use, use skate guards if you walk across other surfaces with your skates.  Keep a small sharpening stone in your hockey bag.  Sharpen your blades as you need to, or when you get a nick in your blade

Your best skating posture varies slightly from person to person, but everyone should have the proper posture, which includes bent knees and ankles with a proper weight distribution over the balls of the feet.  LOOK FORWARD, not down at the ice, and keep proper alignment.  From a front view you toe, knee, and chin should be in a line, and from the side your ankle, hip, shoulder, and head should be aligned.  Many people admired Paul Coffey and his fluid style of skating, but Paul practiced this skating style for years.

Before you start any ice hockey practice, make sure you do warm-up exercises.  It is good to do these in full gear, as they improve balance and posture, as well as stretch out muscles.  Your first stretches should be upper body stretches, keeping leg lunges and groin stretches until the end of the warm-up.  Stretch out your upper body and shoulders with shoulder rolls and dips. Hold the hockey stick across your shoulders at the upper back, and turn at the waist for shoulder rolls, and dip to touch a right hand to a right knee (or left to left) for shoulder dips.   Another important area to stretch is the lower back, which gets a lot of strain in a regular hockey game.  Stretches that make your back curve strongly either concave (called seal stretches) or convex (where you bend forward with your chest near your thighs) will help this area of the body.

Finally, do hamstring stretches and groin stretches (various leg lunges and sitting exercises) to complete your warm-up, and be ready to play ice hockey.  For a complete guide to stretches, confer with your coach, or get a good book with a lot of diagrams or pictures.  It is important to keep proper alignment when doing these stretches in order to protect your body, and have a great hockey match!

A good hockey player depends upon a great skating technique to support his game.
Let’s look at the three main phases of the skating process in hockey, and bring up a few common mistakes that can be made in each phase. The first phase is the stride, or where the power comes from to glide forward. This action begins in the hip of the back leg, flows through the knee, and finishes in a full extension of the ankle. The leg and foot should be at about 45 degrees from the direction that you intend to skate, and the weight should be on the ball of the foot, and more to the inside edge of the blade.

When the leg is fully extended, you should be able to visualize a straight line from the foot, through the leg and hip, all the way up to the shoulders. Don’t do a lot of arm flailing, and keep only one hand on your stick if you do not have the puck.

Common problems with the stride phase are that your stride skate comes off the ice before the leg is fully extended. Skate slowly around the rink to check to make sure that the leg is fully extended before you begin to bring it forward, to make sure you get the full power and speed from each stride. Also check that your ankles are essentially straight, and not leaning strongly in or out. If so, you might want to find a different pair of hockey skates that provide the amount of ankle support that you require. Make sure that your weight is more to the inside edge of the blade, and don’t feel embarrassed about falling down when trying this. Do not point your toe straight down at the completion of the stride, for this upsets balance and decreases speed.

Once the stride phase is complete, the next phase is when you glide on the forward foot. Weight should be over the ball of the foot, and the leg bent nearly 90 degrees. The rest of your body should have shoulders over hips and eyes forward, not down. This phase takes strong muscles, and it takes time to develop it well. The big problem here is balance, where your leg should be directly under the center of your body, your weight should be centered on the blade and not on the inside edge, and your head is up and over your support leg.

The final phase is to get the back, or stride, leg underneath your body again. Slightly raise the hockey skate off the ice, and return the leg so that the skate points in the direction you want to go next. This gets you ready to use the other leg to begin the next stride phase. The biggest problem here is to avoid moving your body side to side, as that will disrupt your balance and slow you down. During the recovery phase, also make sure that the gliding skate stays flat and your weight does not move to the inside or outside edge of the hockey skate.

These pointers should help improve your hockey skating technique. There are a number of good books that include drills to practice individual parts of the skating technique, and drills to strengthen your muscles.